It is often desirable to encrypt data being communicated to multiple destinations dispersed throughout a large network. As but one example, video and other types of content are often distributed to thousands of end user devices served by a particular network. The operator of that network may encrypt data for some or all of that content so as to prevent unauthorized access.
Conventional techniques for encrypting large amounts of data sent to a large number of destinations have included incorporation of encryption operations into a dedicated transmission element such as an edge device on the network. The operations of encryption software within the edge device might be controlled by a separate conditional access system (CAS) device such as a server or other computer that communicates with the edge device. In many cases, encryption utilizes programs and communications that are proprietary to the vendor(s) of the CAS device and edge device.
These and other conventional techniques can limit the ability of a network operator to modify a network architecture. For example, it can be difficult to relocate data transmission functions to a different network element but still use existing CAS devices to manage encryption.